Courses

Difference, Experience, Sensibility: Three Themes in European Architecture

George Baird, Irenee Scalbert

For several decades, architecture in Europe aspired to contribute to general culture. It has represented concepts, demonstrated principles, embodied types or merely set examples. In…

The Architectural Imaginary: Experimental Architecture of the 1970s

K. Michael Hays

Prerequisites: GSD 4201-4206 or equivalent or post-professional-degree status (MArch 2, MDesS, etc).This course examines selected architecture practices and projects in the expanded decade of the…

Architectural criticism in the post-Tafuri era

Rafael Moneo

3416: Architectural criticism in the post-Tafuri eraTwentieth century modern architecture always had as a mandatory companion a group of critics, which were ready to argue…

The Function of Ornament

Farshid Moussavi

The seminar will undertake a survey of modern ornament as this has been explored through building envelopes by various architects, in order to construct a…

Frames of Mind: Approaches to Film Theory

Giuliana Bruno

Introduction to the language of film theory, aimed at developing analytic skills to interpret films. A historical survey that spans turn-of-the-century scientific motion studies to…

Buildings, Texts, and Contexts

Antoine Picon

This six-module sequence, offered over three semesters, presents an introduction to the complex, interwoven web of conceptual issues and historical narratives in western architecture from…

Buildings, Texts, and Contexts

Eve Blau

This six-module sequence, offered over three semesters, presents an introduction to the complex, interwoven web of conceptual issues and historical narratives in western architecture from…

Digital Culture, Space and Society

Antoine Picon

Computer and networks like the Internet have transformed our perception of space. They are also synonymous with the development of a new type of society,…

Texture Analysis: Film, Fashion, and Material Culture: Seminar

Giuliana Bruno

Film and fashion are most powerful image-makers. They are prime agents of visual expression and objects of material culture. They share a role in conveying…

Alternative Constructions

Christine Smith

An in-depth consideration of selected topics of enduring relevance for the theory and practice of architecture. The course examines concepts such as wonder, knowledge, authority,…

Art and Architecture in Western Europe, 950-1250

Christine Smith

A selective survey of architecture, sculpture, and painting from the revival of monumental building around the turn of the Year 1000 to St Francis and…

Independent Study by Candidates for PhD Degrees

K. Michael Hays

Prerequisites: Four graduate-level courses in this area or enrollment in doctoral program.This research seminar addresses subjects of history, theory and human sciences related to architecture…

Analysis and Design of Building Structures II

Martin Bechthold

Prerequisites: GSD 6201.A continuation of GSD 6201, this course introduces more advanced topics such as funicular systems, statically indeterminate structures, pre-stressing as well as surface…

Science and Technology

Jonathan Levi, Thomas Schroepfer

The course introduces a conceptual framework for the design of building assemblies, as informed by a clear understanding of construction technologies and of the properties…

Environmental Technologies in Building: Climate and Thermal Behavior

Toshiko Mori, Matthias Schuler

This course examines the fundamental scientific principles underlying the thermal behavior of buildings and introduces students to the existing technologies for creating and controlling the…

Innovative Constructions: cases in modern Japan

Mark Mulligan

Modern Japanese architecture has been much admired in the West for its attention to materials, its refined construction details, and its ability to integrate traditional…

Innovation in Structure

Daniel Schodek

In our recent examples of architecture, visions of architects are enhanced by innovative approaches in structures by leading engineers. They engage in early stages of…

CAD/CAM II: Design Development in Digital Environments

Daniel Schodek

This lecture course explores the design development process as it occurs within advanced digital environments, e.g., Catia, that support parametric modeling, and which are widely…

Legal Aspects of Design Practice

Carl Sapers

This course focuses on the special obligations and privileges of a design professional. We study governmental regulation, taxation, accounting, and legal organization for a design…

Introduction to the Practice of Architecture

Carl Sapers, Vincent James

This graduate level course introduces basic aspects of the architectural profession and challenges students to locate and critically examine ethical and other problems within current…

International Design Practice: Business, Law, and Culture

Jay Wickersham

The practice of architecture is becoming more and more global. American architectural firms pursue foreign markets; foreign architects compete successfully for prestigious commissions within the…

The Bilbao Guggenhein Museum: Topics in Project Management

Spiro Pollalis, Luis Rodriguez

WEB SITEhttps://icommons.harvard.edu/~gsd-7222/. COURSE DESCRIPTIONSpiro N. Pollalis, Luis RodriguezLimited enrolment: 16 studentsThe Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao has had an unprecedented impact not only on the city…

Independent Study by Candidates for Master’s Degrees

Daniel Schodek, Carl Steinitz, Niall Kirkwood, Christine Smith, Peter Del Tredici, Michelle Addington, Anne McGhee, T. Kelly Wilson, Paul Cote, James Stockard, Peter Rowe, K. Michael Hays, Joan Busquets, Michael Meredith, Joseph MacDonald, Marco Cenzatti, Michael Blier

Students may take a maximum of 8 credit units with different instructors in this course series.Prerequisites: Graduate standing.Candidates may arrange individual work focusing on subjects…

Prep of Design Thesis Proposal for MArch

Toshiko Mori

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of the thesis program director.This entails preparatory work for all students intending subsequently to enroll in GSD 9301. Students research…

Design Research in Product Design

Martin Bechthold, Marco Steinberg, Michael Blier, Dan Pitera

COURSE DESCRIPTIONWhat is design research? What are its criteria of success? The seminar/workshop will investigate design research methods from two perspectives:1.the Industrial Design/ Architecture interface.

Independent Thesis in Satisfaction of Degree MArch

Nader Tehrani, Margaret Crawford, Joseph MacDonald, Marco Steinberg, Preston Scott Cohen, Sarah Goldhagen, Peter Rowe, Jonathan Levi, Peter Rose, Jorge Silvetti, T. Kelly Wilson, A. Hashim Sarkis, Laura Miller, Toshiko Mori, Pierre de Meuron, Jacques Herzog

Prerequisites: GSD 9203.Following preparation in GSD 9203, each student conducts a design exploration that tests and expands the thesis.

Independent Thesis for the Degree Master in Design Studies

A student who selects this independent thesis for the degree Master in Design Studies pursues independent research of relevance to the selected course of study…

Preparation of Doctoral Thesis Proposal

Daniel Schodek, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez, A. Hashim Sarkis, Peter Rowe, Spiro Pollalis, Robert France

Under faculty guidance, the student conducts a reading program and formulates a thesis proposal. The course is intended for doctoral students.

Thesis in Satisfaction of the Degree Doctor of Design

Richard Peiser, Carl Steinitz, Michelle Addington, Peter Rowe, Spiro Pollalis, Joan Busquets, Martin Bechthold, Jeffrey Huang, Antoine Picon, Kostas Terzidis

Under guidance of a faculty committee, the student conducts investigations and prepares a doctoral thesis.

Thesis Extension in Satisfaction of the Degree Master in Architecture

Thesis Extension…

First Semester Core: Introduction to Design and Visual Studies in Architecture

Preston Scott Cohen, Michael Meredith, Thomas Schroepfer, Patricia Heyda, Marcelo Spina, Ingeborg Rocker, Eric Howeler

The first of a four-semester sequence of design studios introduces students to the practice of architectural design, discussing the theoretical principles on which such practice…

Third Semester Core: Architectural Design

Toshiko Mori, Laura Miller, Peter Rose, Jonathan Levi, Joseph MacDonald, Robert Marino, Amale Andraos

Prerequisites: GSD 1101 and GSD 1102, or advanced standing in the MArch I program.The third of a four-semester sequence of design studios emphasizes the development…

Options: New York Docklands Museum and Cultural Center

Maryann Thompson

Located on the East River adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, the site is a threshold site which negotiates the edge condition…

Shadow Cities: Nomads + Nanomaterials

Sheila Kennedy

Interdisciplinary and collaborative, the SHADOW CITIES studio at the GSD explores the intersection of architecture, technology development and social action. More than 2 billion people…

Museum of Contemporary Art in Portugal

Francisco Mateus, Manuel Mateus

Site:Guincho – the region between earth and sea – consists of a rough topography of cliffs, heavy stones and persistent wild vegetation. It is the…

Repetition and Culture

Peter St. John, Adam Caruso

Contemporary architecture is preoccupied with being interesting. What is interesting today can soon become tiresome. The character of cities has little to do with their…

Cities in Crisis: Memory and Community in Architecture and Planning

Fred Schwartz

There will be massive needs for restoration, redesign, and community planning. This will impact everything from affordable housing to reestablishment of basic infrastructure and transportation;…

The Marfa Project

Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton

The brief for the Marfa Project will ask for the design of a guest house to the Chinati Foundation, at Marfa, Texas. In order to…

To and From Asia with Love

Erwin Viray

An Invitation to an Exotic Voyage To and From Asia with LoveArchitecture for a CityA vibrant global city called homeA home, a place where one…

SELF-SIMILAR: Treasure Island Performing Arts Center

Lisa Iwamoto, Craig Scott

This studio will explore ideas of self-similarity and transitive relationships among seam, surface and volume as a means to generate architectural systems that span across…

Harvard in Cyprus

Spiro Pollalis

The Harvard School of Public Health has established the Cyprus International Institute (CII) to conduct research, and offer instruction both to full time students and…

Extending Modernism in the Monumental City: Washington’s Southwest Waterfront Development

Andrea Leers

The subject of this studio will be the design of a mixed- use urban waterfront development in an exceptional sector of the city of Washington…

Visual Studies

T. Kelly Wilson

This course emphasizes the construction of space on the two-dimensional surface by way of freehand drawing. In-class visual exercises identify key concepts in the construction…

Projective Representation in Architecture

Preston Scott Cohen

This course examines the history, theory and practice of parallel (orthographic) and central (perspective) projection. The objective is to provide the tools to imagine and…

Drawing in the City of Rome

T. Kelly Wilson

Kinetic Architecture

Kostas Terzidis

In architecture, the notion of motion is often represented as an abstract formal configuration that implies relationships of cause and effect. Deformation, juxtaposition, superimposition, absence,…

Sculpting in Motion

Allen Sayegh

Computer Graphics have opened up unprecedented ways of form making and animation. This unfolding new universe of visual stimuli that is based on complex geometry…

Algorithmic Architecture

Kostas Terzidis

As architecture enters the new era of digital representation, geometrical theories and processes are being implemented, tested, and pushed to their limits. Recent theories of…

Product Design: Industrial Design

Marco Steinberg

This first lecture module focuses on the historical aspect of product design. It seeks to evaluate the legacies of the practice by examining specific case…

Product Design: Industrial Design

Marco Steinberg

Following up on 2315-M1, this second module focuses on contemporary issues of product design. We will examine emerging technologies, design opportunities, and the interrelation between…